MEP and top Viktor Orbàn ally arrested at sex party hailed as ‘new Hungarian gay icon’ in stunning street mural
(Instagram/@laika_mcmliv)
The gay sex party scandal that cost József Szájer his career has had an unexpected upside: he’s been reborn as a Hungarian queer icon.
Last week the Hungarian MEP and founding father of Viktor Orbàn’s anti-LGBT+ Fidesz party was found among several naked men at an illicit gay orgy in Brussels, which was raided by police for breaching coronavirus restrictions.
Szájer resigned from the European Parliament in disgrace and was subsequently disowned by Orbàn. But all is not lost – he’s finally achieved the recognition he deserves as a burly leather daddy.
Szájer’s story inspired the Italian street artist Laika, who’s depicted the bare-chested politician in a striking mural entitled: “The New Hungarian Gay Icon – F**k Orbàn, I Am What I Am”.
The tongue-in-cheek tribute shows the former MEP in a leather harness with the Hungarian coat of arms tattooed in rainbow colours on his left arm, and five naked men, Szájer’s “companions in adventures,” standing faithfully behind him.
Explaining their work, which is proudly displayed on the streets of Rome, Laika said they “dream of a world” where József Szájer can experience his sexuality freely without having to hide it from his own party.
“In Hungary, the Orbàn government literally declared war on the LGBT + community, depriving it of all rights in the name of so-called traditional values and Christian roots,” they said.
“I want a world where everyone has the same rights, regardless of identity and sexual orientation, a society without prejudice. Straight, gay, lesbian, trans, bisexual, queer, etc… All human beings, all with the same rights.
“I want a world where even Szájer can be free to live his sexuality the way he believes, without hiding from the eyes of his own party.”
Highlighting Szájer’s hypocrisy, the artist concluded: “Thanks József for dealing a severe blow to intolerance. From today you are the new Hungarian gay icon. But next time respect the anti-COVID rules!”
This unexpected career trajectory is unlikely to be welcomed by Szájer, an ostentatiously homophobic politician who rewrote Hungary’s constitution to exclude same-sex marriage and recently proposed a law that would block same-sex couples from adopting.
